The Dream

Excerpt from a ruined book, author unknown-

"Within the greater existence of the plane-scapes, no two planes are more closely bound than the Ethereal and the Material. Myths of ghosts and nightmares just beyond our perception, separated by a thin veil. Those with true sight, such as liches, know more about the ethereal plane simply by observation. Aside from the glow that surrounds objects, the wispy appearance of the world, the pale colors, the spirits that occasionally wander, there are portals.

The ethereal plane is a shadow of the material and the depth of that shadow is more vast and deep than most will ever realize. Normal mortals, blessed with true sight, only see the first part of the shadow. Passing through a special portal, however, will reveal the true expanse of the ghostly territory. They would see true spirits. They would see the true shadows of the world. Shadows of thought and emotion, not just objects. This part of the Ethereal plane is simply called 'The Dream', A bastion of the lost."

"The Dream is furthest part of the shadow cast by the material plane. Almost like a dim figment rather than a solid image. The laws of the world waver just as its denizens do. Here there are monsters. Massive entities whose presence is enough to cloud your mind with another's thoughts. Those that wander here are in grave danger of staying, unable to tell if it is of their own volition or of others. The later option most likely ending with the unfeeling consumption of your very soul."
'A person should only venture into the dream with a clear goal in mind. Mine is to to catalogue all I see and return to finish this book."
"The ghostly blue of the ethereal plane is all I have ever seen here. Nearly nothing of the material plane is left visible and it is difficult to determine what is and isn't imagined. Up from down have no meaning. You move as fast as your mind can carry you, island hopping from one perception of reality to the next."
"The being that guides me, that saved me from being lost, has many teeth and 3 eyes of different colors. It's mouth hangs open. It politely asks me to enter to which I rudely decline. Others, who I could swear I didn't see near me a second before, seemingly thoughtlessly enter into the gaping maw. I watch in cold, morbid, curiosity as the teeth of the guides mouth bend and lengthen to touch and tear small pieces of ghostly flesh away from the... victim? It seems painless, judging by the blank expression of the volunteer. Finally, all that's left is a small ghostly orb. The guide opens its throat to reveal its own ghostly orb of hundreds of times my own size, somehow bigger than the body of its hosts form would allow. The orb of the victim enters the chamber and is engulfed by the guides being, which swells with ripples of energy. I hear a chorus of laughter and joy and sorrow and hate and love."
"I see many others appear sometimes, they tell me to run from my guide. They saw he will not share me. My guide tells me they are not wrong. What am I too these things?"
"I see the emotion of man in the material plane mirrored in this place. It is his love and it is jovial. I see flickers of his actions through the incorporeal form. His wife seemed displeased however. His love reared a second head which consumed the first. It searched the area around to hunt for more food. I hid behind my guide as it consumed the man's anger. I do not know to what end."
"The guide thanks me for visiting and invites me into its maw one more time. I regret that I had to decline before returning to the material plane."